In Italy “Mou” is a very common type of soft candies that have a milky, caramel flavor. In this recipe it is used as a toffee sauce, similar to the South American Dulche de Leche.

Combined with walnuts and spread over an extremely friable shortbread crust is just… irresistible!

In Italy “iiPS: If you are wondering about the caramel inscription on top… “noci”, it means “walnuts”, I got confused and I wrote it in Italian…

Shortbread Procedure:

Prepare the “pastafrolla” (shortbread) by mixing the ingredients in a food processor. If it turns dry and crumbles do not add milk, but a drop or two of water until it becomes compact.

- Put the dough on a floured board and roll it into an 11-inch circle with a rolling pin.
- Trim off all the excess dough and knead the cuttings together. Set aside.
- Transfer the pastry (be extremely careful, helping yourself by rolling it around the rolling pin) to a baking sheet and pierce the base with a fork.

Caramel Mou Procedure:
Place the sugar into a saucepan, add a little water and make it melt.

Let it caramelize on low heat until it turns a deep brown color.
Warm up the heavy cream and add it to the caramel while stirring until you get a smooth, creamy consistency.

Sprinkle the walnuts on the shortbread base and top them with the Mou cream.

Roll out the shortbread trimmings and cut into strips of identical thickness and create a decorative grid on top.
Bake the crostata at in 350 ° for 50 minutes.

When you take it out of the oven, garnish the crostata with some drops of Mou sauce… Serve Still Warm and Enjoy!

February 17, 2012

Ok, the Crostata was too good… so we replied! …with hazelnuts this time!